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Archive: February 2010 (101-110 of 115)

Feb 2 2010 07:40 PM ET

Fall Out Boy: Done for good?

Categories: Fall Out Boy, Things That Make Us Go Hmm

If statements today from frontman Patrick Stump and bass player/band pin-up Pete Wentz are to believed, platinum-selling Chicago rockers Fall Out Boy may have come to the end of the road, permanently.

Though the band announced a planned hiatus last summer, recent news points to a more final kind of break. On his personal website, Wentz wrote, in part, “As much as i don’t have a solo project, i also can’t predict that i’d ever play in fall out boy again. not due to personal relationships as much as a band we grew apart. in this statement id like to include there is the possibility that fob will play again with out me or i will be a part of it when everyone is on the same page. it is no ones fault and there is no animosity about the decision… i am the single biggest fan of fob and if this is our legacy than so be it. i am proud of it.”

In response, Stump told Spin.com, “I’m not in Fall Out Boy right now, but one way or another, the band will always be around. Steven Tyler isn’t in Aerosmith anymore, but his gravestone will probably say something about Aerosmith. Whether we play again or not, I don’t know. If we do, it will be for the right reasons. If we don’t, it will also be for the right reasons.”

On his own website, Stump posted videos of the solo project he is currently working on, while Wentz has collaborated with Blink 182′s Mark Hoppus on a song for Tim Burton’s upcoming Alice In Wonderland, and drummer Andy Hurley and guitarist Joe Trohman are reportedly still at work with the Damned Things, a band they formed in 2008 with Anthrax’s Scott Ian and Rob Caggiano, Every Time I Die’s Keith Buckley and bassist David Karon.

For old times’ sake, revisit our 2007 feature on the band, and relive their breakout hit, 2005′s “Sugar We’re Going Down.” Then tell us how you feel about the end of FOB—and the musical future of its four members:

(Follow the Music Mix on Twitter: @EWMusicMix.)

Feb 2 2010 03:59 PM ET

Fantasia's 'Even Angels': The best 'American Idol' victory anthem the show has never had!

by Michael Slezak

Categories: American Idol, Divas!, Fantasia Barrino

Full disclosure: I’m one of the world’s biggest fans of Fantasia Barrino. Play me YouTube footage of her singing “I Believe” on the American Idol season 3 performance finale, and I’m guaranteed to cry like it’s the final scene of Six Feet Under. Fire up that rendition of “Lady Marmalade” she delivered at a Patti LaBelle tribute concert, and I assure you I’ll throw a minimum of one hand in the air (then wave it ’round like I’m totally square). But even I have to admit the shortcomings of some of ‘Tasia’s post-Idol output. For every electrifying romp like “Hood Boy,” there’ve been meandering midtempo jams with about as much flavor and distinctiveness as corn-starch thickener in a mass-market bisque. For every “uh-huh this girl knows how to murder it” ballad like “Free Yourself,” there’ve been melody-free compositions that left our Idol heroine to wail to no avail.

But “Even Angels,” a brand new track from Fantasia’s upcoming third studio album that she’ll perform tomorrow on Oprah, finds the current VH1 reality star aiming directly for a date with the pop charts, which is a distinct change from the grittier R&B focus of her previous records. (Hat tip to mjsbigblog for alerting me to its availability.) The unabashedly sentimental ode to recalibrating one’s inner compass has a lovely, well-defined melody that provides a border for a singer with a penchant for hollerating way outside the lines (not that there’s anything wrong with that). This unexpected vocal restraint, combined with a lilting piano line and lyrics that follow the singer pondering how to go it alone on the most ordinary of days, build slowly and almost imperceptibly. Then, at the 3:00 mark, “Even Angels,” written by Heather Bright and produced by The Stereotypes, reaches a thunderous, echoing climax — “even angels, even angels learn to fly…fly…fly…fly” — that could manipulate even Ryan Tedder into a full-bodied sway, and which plays out like a mashup of Beyoncé’s recent Grammy winner “Halo” and Bette Midler’s slice of classic sap “Wind Beneath My Wings.” Sure, it’s the kind of song you’d expect to hear a future Carrie Underwood or Jordin Sparks singing at the Kodak in May (while trying to avoid getting confetti in her mouth), and yet, ‘Tasia upgrades lines like “First step, take a deep breath/ You don’t need a reason why” with a voice that packs more emotion into a couple of bars than most Auto-Tuned pop tarts deliver on an entire album. It’s good to have Ms. Barrino back with some new music; here’s hoping radio agrees. (And here’s also hoping that just because “Even Angels” is pretty and poppy, that Fantasia doesn’t deny us some of her beautifully ugly funk on the forthcoming CD.)

What do you think of “Even Angels”? If RCA makes this the lead single, could you envision it having an impact on the Hot 100? Sound off in the comments below, but before you do, a three-step plan: Follow EW’s Music Mix blog on Twitter @EWMusicMix; then follow me on Twitter @EWMichaelSlezak; and then, after the jump, check out my recent five-part interview with Fantasia (covering everything from her VH1 show to her Gospel roots to her desire to rock).

READ FULL STORY »

Feb 2 2010 02:29 PM ET

Aaron Carter: 'I am back now, here I am' -- a Music Mix interview

by Nicholas White

Categories: In the Studio, Kids Do the Darndest Things

Beware, Aaron Carter haters—and there may be a few—the onetime tween pin-up, brother of Backstreet Nick, and recent Dancing with the Stars alum has launched a new stage in his career.

He’s really hoping you’re going to appreciate it.

“I’m back here to make a point when it comes to my abilities, my dancing,” Carter told EW.com on the red carpet at Sunday’s 52 annual Grammy Awards in L.A. ” If I am going to talk the talk, I will walk the walk. I’m going to do everything it takes. I’m here – take your best shot at me.”

Carter, 22, who has a single, “Dance with Me,” currently on iTunes with Flo Rida, is in prove-himself mode – or at least advertising it publicly, despite regaining prominence (sort of) last fall, finishing fifth on Dancing with the Stars with partner Karina Smirnoff. He has an independent record label, which he has signed himself to, he says.

“A lot of people didn’t expect that [Flo Rida single],” Carter says. “But he supports me and what I’ve done in my career. That means a lot to me. I have had ups and downs, trials and tribulations, but I’m back in my early 20s, to relive all that success over.”

“I am back now, here I am,” Carter repeated. “I am back at the Grammys, not just for no reason. I’m here because I’m living my dream. Major record labels want to sign me and put me down. They want to bring me here to get their competition here. I’m sick of that happening. I’m sick of sitting around, letting that [happen].”

He added, “This is it for me.”

Carter is reportedly on track to release a CD later this year, his fifth, though is vague on details when pressed. It would be his first record in eight years, after 2002′s Another Earthquake. His most successful was 2000′s Oh Aaron, which went triple platinum.

“I took some time off,” he says of the downtime. “I’m producing it, writing it, I mix it, I master it. I vocal-arrange it. I have my own studio down in Miami. I do it all. I want to be a real artist to consumers. I want to be the real thing for them. There are so many artists out there that don’t play the piano and actually write the lyrics and do it all creatively.”

And that one song, “Let Go,” that was rumored to be about ex-girlfriend Hilary Duff? Well, it is. “Of course, yeah,” Carter says. “I write about my feelings, things that happen in my life and experiences.”

Feb 2 2010 02:25 PM ET

Michel Gondry on his colorful video for Mia Doi Todd's 'Open Your Heart' and more: The Music Mix interview

by Simon Vozick-Levinson

Categories: Mia Doi Todd, Michel Gondry, Music Videos, Things That Are European

For three, four, maybe even five years, Michel Gondry kept returning in his mind to the image of dozens of dancers wearing brightly colored outfits. “Sometimes you have a concept that doesn’t necessarily reflect some specific narrative,” the French film and music video director (Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, Be Kind Rewind) tells EW. “I have tons of ideas like that in the back of my head.” From time to time he’d suggest this idea to one musician or another. “They always wanted to add something to it, and I thought it would lose what I like in the idea, the simplicity…I was asked to maybe use it for a commercial, but I didn’t want to. I would rather pay myself and do it in a much lower budget than to ruin the idea and do it for a commercial.”

Then, about 10 months ago, Gondry met West Coast singer-songwriter Mia Doi Todd at a party. “I really fell in love with her music,” he says. “It’s incredibly fragile, personal, and very elevated.” They became friends, and soon Todd penned a new tune, “Open Your Heart,” that Gondry thought would work perfectly with the color-coordinated choreography he’d been wanting to use.

After signing on to direct the video for “Open Your Heart,” Gondry went with Todd to scout locations in east Los Angeles. “Basically, L.A. is not made for humans. It’s a lot of concrete and cars passing by. It’s very blank, which is a great background to put all these people with colors.” Next, they cast their stars. “I needed a group of people who could move together, but it would have been too affected if they were professional dancers. We found this marching band from Riverside Community College.” Over three sunny days, Todd and 100 or so marching band members-turned-dancers brought Gondry’s vision to life. Watch the video below to see how the video for “Open Your Heart” turned out. (More information on the song and video is available here.)

READ FULL STORY »

Feb 2 2010 01:12 PM ET

2010 Oscars for Best Song: Worst nominations ever?

by Leah Greenblatt

Categories: Awards Shows, Let's Argue!, Misc., Oscars

The Academy Awards are known for the odd Best Song stumble or snub (shutting out Bruce Springsteen entirely for 2008′s widely acclaimed “The Wrestler,” even after it won the Golden Globe, for example). Though they’ve made some admirable choices, too: See the triumph of Three 6 Mafia’s “Hard Out Here for a Pimp” for Hustle and Flow in 2005, and Markéta Irglová and Glen Hansard’s Once theme “Falling Slowly” in ’07.

But this year, Ryan Bingham’s lovely and eminently worthy “The Weary Kind” from Crazy Heart aside, the nominations are decidedly underwhelming. No offense to Randy Newman, the Susan Lucci of Oscar Song noms, who gets two this year for his work on Disney’s The Princess and the Frog, but seriously, he needed two?

And as for Marion Cotillard’s speakeasy shimmy “Take It All” from the star-studded dud Nine, and the boppy piano ditty “Loin de Paname” from hardly-seen French musical Paris 36? All we can say is, sacre bleu. Surely, the Academy could have dug a little deeper? (Though speaking of blue, points to them for passing on Leona Lewis’ Celine-style Avatar fail, “I See You.”)

If there were justice in the ranks, we might have seen a nod for Karen O’s organic and sweetly childlike Where The Wild Things Are work, specifically “All Is Love,” or Ed Helms’ Dada goof “Stu’s Song” from The Hangover. Neither would likely have won, but they deserved a chance, as did Mary J. Blige’s “I Can See In Color” for Precious, Duffy’s “Smoke Without Fire” from An Education, and Sad Brad Smith’s Up in the Air elegy “Help Yourself.”

Also absent? Anything at all from the Twilight: New Moon soundtrack. No matter what you think of the film (to recap: rainforest, sparkle, mope, werewolf, mope, kiss), its music was almost uniformly excellent. Death Cab for Cutie, Thom Yorke, Lykke Li (who made the eligibility short list, at least), and countless others contributed tracks that should have at least earned them a shot at the statuette; it’s unclear why they didn’t.

But you tell us, readers—is this the lineup you were hoping for? Who most deserves the prize, regardless of whether or not they were nominated?

Feb 2 2010 12:00 PM ET

Hear Simon Cowell's Haiti benefit single, 'Everybody Hurts': Miley, Mariah, Susan Boyle, and more sing the R.E.M. classic

by Leah Greenblatt

Categories: Covers, New Stuff, Things That Are European, YouTube Delights

He may kill dreams weekly on Idol, but there is a good heart beating beneath the grinch-y proclamations and shrink-wrapped black t-shirts of Mr. Simon Cowell.

The man used his bi-contintental power to gather an all-star cast on “Everybody Hurts,” a largely faithful cover of R.E.M.’s beloved 1993 ballad. Among the stars who appear below: Leona Lewis, Mariah Carey, Miley Cyrus, Jon Bon Jovi, Rod Stewart, Kylie Minogue, Mika, Michael Buble, James Blunt and several names that will probably resonate much more with readers whose wallets are full of Euros, not dollars (Gary Barlow, Cheryl Cole, Westlife):

Either way, you can still give in the spirit of the cause to Cowell’s designated charity here, or to any number of respected institutions. In the meantime, tell us which of the current charity projects—including the A-list overflow “We Are the World,” various live benefits and Dave Matthews’ new EP—you’re most enjoying; not just for the do-goodery, but for their own sake.

Feb 2 2010 11:28 AM ET

Kim Burrell wows Whitney Houston with 'I Believe in You and Me' at BET Honors

by Simon Vozick-Levinson

Categories: About Last Night, Divas!, Tributes, Whitney Houston

Introducing Kim Burrell for a surprise tribute to Whitney Houston at the BET Honors, which aired last night, presenter Ne-Yo called her “one of Ms. Houston’s favorite voices on the planet.” He wasn’t kidding: Houston literally leaped out of her seat when she heard Burrell’s name. She stayed up through Burrell’s stirring performance of “I Believe in You and Me,” dancing in the aisles while she watched the gospel singer light up the stage. By the song’s end, Houston was mouthing the words “I love you” with what looked like tears in her eyes. It was a genuinely moving moment, given the personal trials Houston has surmounted in the past decade.

Did you watch the BET Honors last night? What were your favorite moments? Whether or not you tuned in, you can catch Burrell’s tribute to Houston below.

(Follow the Music Mix on Twitter: @EWMusicMix.)

Feb 2 2010 06:19 AM ET

'We Are the World' for Haiti benefit features Barbra Streisand, Celine Dion, Jennifer Hudson, Kanye West, Justin Bieber, dozens more

by Whitney Pastorek

Categories: Things That Are Awesome, We Are the World

Some of the biggest stars in the music industry gathered in Hollywood on the day after the Grammys for an even bigger occasion: to record a new version of “We Are the World,” designed to benefit Haiti in the wake of that country’s devastating earthquake, as well as mark the 25th anniversary of the original collaboration. “It’s no accident this happened,” said producer Quincy Jones of the convergence of auspicious date and important cause.

This year’s recording took place in the same studio as 1985, on the lot of the former A&M (now Henson) Studios. Jones was back behind the producer’s podium, alongside the song’s co-writer, Lionel Richie; original engineer Humberto Gatica was behind the dials. R&B singer Mya started a rumor (and immediately took it back) that the song’s original bridge — memorably sung by its other co-writer, Michael Jackson — would remain. But there were nods to 2010, too: Lady Gaga producer RedOne polished the backing track with a more contemporary sound, and Crash director Paul Haggis was on hand to shoot a new video. “The eyes of the world are finally on Haiti,” he said. “We cannot allow it to be forgotten again.”

Haggis’s words were echoed more personally by Haitian native Wyclef Jean, who reminded the assembled group that had he not come to America, he’d be one of the kids in the videos of earthquake survivors surrounding the choir as they recorded. “When I got in the music business, my whole life changed. Today, it represents what the whole mission was for me,” he told the group, by way of an introductory pep talk. “What’s bigger than a contribution is the fact that you lent your voice. The fact that you lent your voice means that we are going into the 21st century Haiti, and I promise you we are not going backwards.” READ FULL STORY »

Feb 1 2010 05:55 PM ET

The Aerosmith battle heats up: Steven Tyler may take legal action to prevent being replaced

by Clark Collis

Categories: Aerosmith, Legal Troubles, Things That Bum Us Out, Tours

According to a Billboard article, Steven Tyler’s attorney Skip Miller has written a letter to Aerosmith’s manager Howard Kaufman requesting that the band’s management, “immediately cease and desist from engaging in acts and conduct to the harm and detriment of your own client, Aerosmith, and our client who is one of it members.” The letter refers to the possibility that the band might recruit a singer to replace Tyler.

Earlier this month, Aerosmith guitarist Joe Perry apparently confirmed that the band were looking for a new frontman. “The word’s been out there for a while,” he told Canada’s QMI news agency. “Hopefully, we’ll have found a new singer by the summer, and Aerosmith will be able to go back out on the road.”

Aerosmith were on the road last year but had to abandon their tour in August after Tyler fell from a stage. Billboard quotes Tyler’s attorney as saying that the singer “does not want lawsuits,” although it seems the singer is not ruling out that possibility. According to Skip Miller, “we’ll cross that bridge if and when we come to it.” (Both Miller and Howard Kaufman failed to respond to interview requests).

In short, things seem to be getting pretty heated in the Aerosmith camp. Of course, various members have always had a love-hate relationship, and there was a period in the late ’70s/early ’80s when both Perry and fellow guitarist Brad Whitford departed from the ‘Smith ranks. And we may be looking at a similar fracture here.

What do you think? Would you pay to see Aerosmith play with, say, Bill Idol or Paul Rodgers (both of whom are rumored to be in the frame to replace Tyler)?

(Follow the Music Mix on Twitter: @EWMusicMix.)

Photo credit: Kevin Kane/WireImage.com

Feb 1 2010 04:40 PM ET

Taylor Swift collaborator Butch Walker on their much-discussed Grammy performance: 'a lot of people give her unnecessary grief'

by Clark Collis

Categories: About Last Night, Country, Y'all!, Grammys, Taylor Swift

Butch Walker admits his appearance last night on the Grammys playing banjolin in Taylor Swift’s backing band may have confused some viewers. “I’m sure there were plenty of people going, ‘Who’s the idiot with tattoos up there with her?” he laughs. While Walker is a singer-songwriter in his own right (his new country-rock-pop collection, I Liked It Better When You Had No Heart, is out February 23) he is best known as a behind-the-scenes producer and tunesmith who has collaborated with the likes of Avril Lavigne, All-American Rejects, and fellow Grammy performer Pink. But it was a YouTube video of Walker recording his own version of Swift’s “You Belong With Me” —a clip which has so far been watched a quarter of a million times—that resulted in his Grammys appearance last night. After the break, Walker recalls his night of glory, addresses the subject of Swift’s somewhat off-key performance, and reveals that not everyone likes to watch him pee.